Text: Acts 8:26-37; Isaiah 53

We learn from Acts 8:1, that persecution scattered the church “throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria.” Verses 4-5 says, “they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” Philip, however, was soon led to leave Samaria to go to Gaza to meet a man of Ethiopia, who was returning home from a season of worship in Jerusalem. When Philip arrived, he heard him reading from Isaiah 53 and asked, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” Admittedly, the Ethiopian said in verse 31, “How can I, except some man should guide me.” Regarding Isaiah 53:7-8 which is mentioned in Acts 8:32-33, The Ethiopian said in verse 34, “I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” (35)

Illustration: A word about the Parable of the Sower and the Seed in Matthew 13. The difference between the first 3 grounds and the good ground that produced life, growth, and fruit is “understanding.” Compare verse 19 with verse 23. The parable is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Is 6:9-10) quoted in verses 14 -15. Verses 14-15 explain why Israel as a nation rejected Christ, their long-awaited Messiah. Like Isaiah’s day, many, including the Ethiopian Eunuch, heard about Christ, but failed to understand His significance. Though many Jews were saved, preaching to the nation in that day was like sowing seed by the wayside, among stones, or among thorns. Philip’s example in Acts 8:30-31, should challenge each of us to carefully guide (lead, teach, guide as a teacher) sinners to an understanding of the Scriptures regarding Jesus Christ.

Verse 35 says that Philip, “preached unto him Jesus.” Preaching means to declare the Good News, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is highly probable that Philip’s preaching answered at least two questions which, in my opinion, parallels Isaiah 53.

• First, who is the Lamb. (Isaiah 53:1-9)
• Second, why was the lamb slaughtered. (Isaiah 53:10-12)  

1. WHO IS THE LAMB?

Isaiah 53:1-9 describes in detail the suffering and slaughter of the lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Acts 8:32-33 is a quote from Is 53:7-8, “The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked, “…of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” (34-35) i.e. Philip explained that the Lamb of Isaiah 53 is Jesus Christ.

• John the Baptist confirms in Jn 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
• Re 13:8 states that Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

Sin required a perfect sacrifice. No one then, now, or ever will be qualified to die an atoning death, save God. Therefore, God was made in the likeness of men according to Php 2:6-8. According to Jn 1:14, God was made flesh and dwelt among men. God was made in the likeness of men to die a substitutionary death as an offering for sin to purchase redemption for a world of sinners. (Jn 3:16)

He 1:1-3, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…”

He 10:7-12, “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

2. WHY WAS THE LAMB SLAIN?

The Lamb of God refers to Christ, as the perfect offering for sin. Isaiah 53:10 reveals this great truth while verse 11 explains why the lamb was slain. “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

• Christ’s death satisfied or appeased the wrath of God against our sin.
• Christ’s death and resurrection will “justify many” meaning that believing on Christ for salvation also justifies or declares a sinner righteous. i.e. no one will be justified by his own good works but by faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:24-26, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

The tabernacle, the priesthood, including the sacrifices and Feast days of the Old Testament point to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the perfect offering for sin, “which taketh away the sin of the world.”

When John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God” the Jews who heard him may have thought of the O.T. sacrifices. The sacrifice of the Passover lamb, for example, was a Jewish feast that commemorated deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Slaying the Passover lamb and applying its blood on the doorposts of houses (Ex 12:11-13) is a picture of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. When a sinner is saved, his sins are canceled, paid in full, or redeemed, and he is justified in the sight of God, therefore he is delivered from the wages of sin; eternal death and condemnation.

Daily sacrifices, or the annual Day of Atonement simply pointed to the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In fact, the time of Jesus’ death on the cross corresponds to the time the evening sacrifice was being made in the temple. The Jews at that time would have also been familiar with the Old Testament prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, who foretold the coming of One who would be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter,” (Is 53:7) to save us from our sins. The Levitical priesthood and their duites help us to understand that Jesus died and arose to save us from our sins. (Mt 1:18-25)

The Bible is clear, all are born in Adam’s likeness, inherently sinful and spiritually dead. Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The payment for sin, according to Romans 6:23, is eternal death. “For the wages of sin is death…” Eternal death is eternal separation from God. All are guilty before God, therefore, our only hope of salvation is Jesus Christ who died on a cross, as an offering for sin, to save us from its eternal payment.

1Peter 1:18-21, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”

Romans 10:9-13, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”